Run resistant fabric



-| F. ZALENSKI 3,106,830

mm RESISTANT FABRIC 7 Filed larch 21, 1963 Fig./ 52 54 8/ '1 60 Leonard Za/enski INVENTOR.

BY W-fa.

United States Patent ()flice 3,106,830 Patented Oct. 15, 1963 3,106,830 RUN RESISTANT FABRIC Leonard F. Zalenskl, Temple, Pa., assign'or to Eternaloc, Inc., Reading, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Mar. 21, 1963, Ser. No. 266,867 7 Claims. (Cl. 66-198) This invention comprises a novel and useful run resistant seamless hosiery and more particularly pertains to a run resistant seamless hosiery or other tubular knit fabric which has a clear and fault free pattern, and is a continuation-in-part of my prior copending application Serial No. 206,670, filed July 2, 1962, now abandoned.

It is particularly desirable and is a highly sought after characteristic of such run resistant seamless tubular knit fabrics as hosiery to produce an article having a clear and fault free pattern. There have been known heretofore run resistant seamless hosiery and other tubular knit articles. However, to my knowledge, such articles are characterized by marks or faults left in the article where the selected pattern of needles of the circular knitting machine at the completion of the rotation of the knitting cylinder produces a pattern of stitches which are not properly coordinated with the stitches at the beginning of the next rotation of the cylinder thus producing a readily detectable fiaw or fault in the fabric known as a fault line. Such faults detract from the attractive appearance of the article as well as from a satisfactory performance in the case of hosiery and greatly reduce the desirability and the salability of the product.

It is of course possible and is a conventional practice to knit tubular knit fabrics such as seamless hosiery on a circular knitting machine in such a manner as to eliminate or obviate the creation of fault lines in the fabric. However, such articles are not run resistant.

At present a number of conventional circular knitting machines are available. However, a very large proportion of these machines, up to approximately ninety percent of the machines now in use are of the 400 needle type. So far as I am aware, such a machine has never been operated upon a method which will produce a seamless, run resistant and fault free stocking or other tubular fabric.

It is therefore the primary purpose of this invention to provide an article which may be readily fabricated upon the conventional 400 needle circular knitting machine such as a seamless, non-run and faultless tubular knit article such as a stocking.

A further object of the invention is to provide an article in accordance with the preceding object and which consists of a stocking or other tubular knit fabric requiring the feeding of one or two threads only into each course during the knitting whereby to produce a very lightweight article.

A further object of the invention is to provide a seamless, non-run and fault free tubular knit fabric which may be produced upon any of the'various conventional circular knitting machines having 3N l' needles in which N is an integer.

A further object of the invention is to provide an article in accordance with the foregoing objects the fabrication of which will require no structural alteration in the conventional machine but only an appropriate adjustment of the pattern controlling element such as 'a' pattern cam or drum and of the cylinder jacks with which such machines are conventionally equipped.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an article in accordance with the immediately preceding object which may be knitted by using a single feed, dual feeds or multiple feeds as may be desired or convenient.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a I seamless non-run and fault free tubular knit fabric which shall have no more than two threads interengaged in any stitch thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide an article produced by a conventional circular knitting machine and which consists of a run-resistant seamless and fault free tubular fabric in which all of the stitches may be substantially uniform in size and in tension throughout the finished fabric.

A further object of the invention is to provide an article consisting of a seamless, non-run and fault free fabric and which will permit the incorporation into the article-of any other conventional knitting techniques such as lacing, welting, the use of stretch yarns, striping, the forming of different types of toes, and the forming of hosiery with or without the heel or toe reinforcements thereof, and in particular, will permit although not require, the forming of stitches of varying size and tension for obtaining various special desirable characteristics in the fabric.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a greatly enlarged view showing the structure of the seamless, non-run fault free tubular knit fabric produced in accordance with this invention by either a one feed, two feed or multiple feed machine and method of knitting; I

FIGURE 2 is a somewhat diagrammatic view of the connection between a pattern controlling drum, a selector lever actuated thereby and the cylinder jack assembly I of the knitting cylinder of the machine; and,

FIGURE 3 is a further diagrammatic view in vertical section of a portion of the knitting cylinder, a needle, a needle or cylinder jack, the actuating and selecting means therefor and showing in full and dotted lines the .conventional operation of this jack. The basic feature of this invention resides-in the provision of a run resistant fabric upon a circular knitting machine, which fabric comprises plain and tuck stitches in a six course three wale repeat, the yarn in the first, third and fifth course of each repeat being knit in every third wale and held in the remaining wales, the yarn in the second, fourth and sixth courses of each repeat being knit in the same wales as in said first, thirdand fifth courses and tucked in the remaining wales, every wale having pairs of plain stitches separated by pairs of tuck' stitches.

While 400 needle micro-mesh circular knitting machines have been used heretofore to produce a seamless, 'run' v type having 3N+l needles where N is an integer and having both main and auxiliary feeds,"it is possible to so operate the needles as to produce a fault free, run resistant and seamless fabric.

A 400 needle machine fits this category as to 3N +l needles and-inasmuch as the vast majority of the circular knitting machines now in use are of the 400 needle type, this invention maybe applied to a large proportion of existing machines for producing this novel fabric. I

For conventional micro-mesh knitting of seamless fault free hosiery a 3 and 1 needle operation or pattern isusual, which, however, will not produce a non-run fabric.

It is a fundamental principle of this invention that any 400 needle micro-mesh machine, or .any other machine having 3N +1 needles where N is an integer, the use of a 1 and 2 pattern will produce the desired result and will produce a fault free article.

Practically the only heretofore used economical method of making run resistant seamless hosiery is by the use of tight and loose stitches. However, this does not produce a completely uniform pattern since the difference n tension of the thread and the lack of uniformity in stitches produces a distinct appearance of the fabric which is undesirable. The present invention by ma ntaining a uniform tensioning on the thread, a uniform size of all of the stitches produces on a conventional circular knitting machine a stocking or other fabric which isnonrun and fault free, which has uniform stitches, produces a clear pattern not possible with knitting technique s requiring the use of additional yarn ends in the knitting operation and which requires very little more yarn for a stocking or other article than is required for a conventional seamless stocking which is not run-resistant.

The process disclosed herein has been successfully employed upon the well known Reading Booton Twin Feed Lady's Seamless Hosiery Machine made by the Textile Machine Works of Reading, Pennsylvania. However, the process is equally applicable to other circular kmtting machines of either single feed, twin feed or multiple feed and not only of 400 needle micro-mesh type, but any machine having 3N+l needles where N is an integer.

Briefly, the aims of this invention are best attained by knitting a fabric with a 6 course and 3 wale repeat. The main feed of the machine knits a plain stitch followed by two held stitches in a repeating sequence in each of the first, third and fifth courses of knitting. The auxiliary feed is used in knitting the second, fourth and sixth courses. However, the auxiliary feed courses each consists of a plain stitch followed by two tuck stitches and with the plain stitches being progressively advanced in successive courses of the fabric by one needle so that after three wales of the six courses, the pattern repeats. This inherently results in obtaining a fault free, run-resistant seamless product.

Referring first. to the somewhat diagrammatic view of FIGURE 2 it will be observed that the numeral 10 designates a conventional pattern drum or other pattern con trol means for selecting the needles of the machine in properly timed sequence. As shown, the pattern drum 10 includes the usual selector jacks 12 thereon which are appropriately broken away to leave recesses or gaps 14 therebetween in accordance with the predetermined pattern of knitting to be performed by the machine.

The selector lever 16, pivoted as at 18, has a projecting lug or finger 20 thereon adapted to pass along the pattern drum and drop into each of the recesses 14 provided therefor. The spring 22 yieldingly biases this lever in a direction to cause the finger 20 to dip into the recesses as they pass therebeneath. At the other end of the lever there is provided a nose 24 adapted to cooperate with the cylinder jacks 26, see FIGURE 3 with which the rotating needle cylinder 28 is provided. The needles indicated by the numeral 30 are of the latch type having the usual latch 32 below the hooked upper end 34 of the needles. At its lower end the needle is provided with a butt 36 for engagement by the cylinder jack 26. The latter is of the usual type having a foot member 38 at its lower end which is adapted to be engaged by the cam 40 during rotation of the cylinder when the cylinder jack is in proper position. As will be observed, from FIGURE 3, the cylinder jack of this conventional machine has an angulated face 42 shown in somewhat exaggerated form and which thus provides a cam portion 44 at about its mid portion. A projection 46 extending to one side of the selector lever 16.

The arrangement is such that when the selector lever is actuated by its projection 20, dropping into a recess 14 of the pattern drum, the nose 24 will push or deflect the selector jack from its dotted line position to its full line position. In this deflected position, the foot 38 of 4 the jack will be moved behind the jack raising cam 40 and thus will be prevented from being lifted by the cam.

As is well understood, the function of the cam 40 is to lift the cylinder jack and thus the needle 30 to a position where the latter may be controlled by the stitch cam, not shown, of the machine. However, if the cylinder jack is displaced by the selector lever 16 to the full line position shown in FIGURE 3, the jack raising cam 40 which pre-positions the needles to a position where they can be engaged by the stitch cam will no longer be effective and the cylinder jack and therefore the needle will remain in a lowered position until reaching the stitch cam, not shown.

The purpose of this invention is effected by providing a pattern controlling element such as a pattern drum or cam 10 in which a suflicient number of the drum or pattern jacks 12 are broken away to properly position the recesses 14 to thus effect the desired operation of the machine. With the pattern controlling element properly arranged, the needles of a two-feed machine will be operated in the following manner.

At the main feed, the yarn is knitted in the first course as a plain stitch followed by two successive held stitches, this three stitch sequence being repeated throughout the first course. During the second course, the yarn from the auxiliary feed is knitted as a plain stitch followed by two successive tuck stitches, this stitch sequence being repeated throughout the second course. However, in the second course, the plain stitch is knit in the same wale as the plain stitch of the preceding 01' first course while the tuck stitches are in the same wales as the held stitches of the first course.

In the third course the same stitch sequence is produced as in the first course, but the three stitch sequence is advanced one wale relative to the first course. In the fourth course the stitch sequence of the second course is repeated, the plain stitch of the fourth course being in the same wale as the plain stitch of the third course.

In the fifth course, the same stitch sequence of the first and third courses is produced, with the stitch sequence being again advanced one wale with respect to the third course. Finally in the sixth course, the stitch sequence of the second and fourth courses is again employed, the plain stitching the sixth being knitted in the same wale as the plain stitch of the fifth course.

Since the seventh and eighthcourses are the same as the first and second courses it is evident that the pattern is repeating itself, being a six course three wale repeat.

As a result of the needle selection, each of the courses of knitting as shown in the fabric depicted in FIGURE 1 will include successive knitted courses extending horizontally with the stitches disposed in vertically extending wales indicated at 50, 52 and 54 and repeat. The series of six successive courses are indicated at 60, 62, 64, 66, 68 and 70.

It will be noted that each of the wales consists of a series of knitted stitches, there being thus a pair of plain stitches followed by a pair of held stitches together with a pair of tucked stitches in a repeating sequence.

Examining more closely the fabric of FIGURE 1, it will be seen that the yarn 81 in each of the first, third andt'ifthcourses 60,64and68isknittedinplainand held stitches 72 and 74 respectively and is supplied from the main feed of the machine. The yarn 83 in each of the second, fourth and sixth courses 62, 66 and 70 is from the auxiliary feed of the machine and is knitted in a 1 and 2 pattern, consisting of a plain stitch 82 and is then floated across the next two wales to form tuck stitches 84, is then again knitted in a plain stitch and so on. In this manner, the knitted stitches are secured against running.

As above mentioned, this fabric and this process may be formed by a single feed, a dual feed or a multi-feed machine using a 1 and 2 pattern of its needles and in which there is a six course and three wale repeat of the fabric pattern.

The process of converting a machine of the 3N+1 needle type from plain knitting to run resistant knitting is effected simply by properly adjusting or converting the pattern controlling mechanism of the needle selection of the auxiliary feed so that for each of the successive sets of the three needles in the first, third and fifth courses, one needle is raised to effect a plain knitting stitch and the two succeeding needles remain lowered to effect held stitches, with the needle effecting the knitting stitch being progressively advanced one needle for each revolution of the knitting cylinder, while in the second, fourth and sixth courses one needle is positioned to effect a plain knitted stitch and the other two needles being positioned for tucking across two wales, with the needle effecting the plain knitting stitch being progressively advanced one needle for each revolution of the knitting cylinder.

In order to convert a machine from plain knitting it isnecessary merely to replace the pattern drum or other pattern controlling means so that it will operate the selector lever in the properly timed pattern and to replace the cylinder jacks 26 or to convert them to jacks of a requisite length. Usually, jacks of this character are supplied in a standard length or lengths and are then shortened to a desired length by breaking off a portion thereof. The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A seamless knit run-resistant fabric comprising plain and tuck stitches in a six course three wale repeat, the yarn in the first, third and fifth courses of each repeat being knit in every third wale and held in the remaining wales, the yarn in the second, fourth and sixth courses of each repeat being knit in the same wales as in said first, third and fifth courses and tucked in the remaining wales.

2. A seamless knit run-resistant fabric comprising plain and tuck stitches in a six course three wale repeat, the yarn in the first, third and fifth courses of each repeat being knit in every third wale and held in the remaining wales, the yarn in the second, fourth and sixth courses of each repeat being knit in the same wales as in said first, third and fifth courses and tucked in the remaining wales, every wale having pairs of plain stitches with successive pairs of plain stitches being separated by pairs of held stitches together with pairs of tuck stitches.

3. A seamless knit run-resistant fabric comprising plain and tuck stitches in a six course three wale repeat, the yarn in the first, third and fifth courses of each repeat being knit in every third wale and held in the remaining wales, the yarn in the second, fourth and sixth courses ofeach repeat being knit in the same wales as in said first, third and fifth courses and tucked in the remaining wales, every wale having pairs of plain stitches separated by pairs of tuck stitches.

4. The fabric of claim 1 in which "a single yarn end is knitted into all six courses of the repeat.

5. The fabric of claim 1 in which a first yarn end is knitted into the first, third and fifth courses of the repeat and a second yarn end is knitted into the second, fourth and sixth courses of the repeat.

6. The fabric of claim 1 in which each stitch in said fabric has not over two strands of yarn engaged therein.

7. The fabric of claim 1 wherein all of the stitches are of substantially uniform tension.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 288,648 Marshall Nov. 20, 1883 2,501,353 Page Mar. 21,1950 2,609,677 Picard Sept. 9, 1952 2,839,909 Morgan June 24, 1958 3,034,324 McDonough May 15, 1962 

1. A SEAMLESS KNIT RUM-RESISTANT FABRIC COMPRISING PLAIN AND TUCK STITCHES IN A SIX COURSE THREE WALE REPEAT, THE YARN IN THE FIRST, THIRD AND FIFTH COURSES OF EACH REPEAT BEING KNIT IN EVERY THIRD WALE AND HELD IN THE REMAINING WALES, THE YARN IN THE SECOND, FOURTH AND SIXTH COURSES OF EACH REPEAT BEING KNIT IN THE SAME WALES AS IN SAID FIRST, THIRD AND FIFTH COURSES AND TUCKED IN THE REMAINING WALES. 